The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1887-01-04
Mtle IaMelMQe11teG
~. VA, JASUAHY4. 1887.
q REPUBLICAN CITY TICKET.
FoR MAY6R-B, Il. WIENER.
Foa CnY CLERK FRANK ". BoWEsa
For CITY sESGEAsr- THOMAS D. bENNETT.
For WHARF MAsrrR-HEsRf SFAM0s,
Natural Gas Legislation.

Unless tho s,Rps are misleading tDere IL
about 10 DO 6 very considerable develop
msnt OF natural gas territory In West Viz.
rtnia. The work has already begun, and
Is likely 10 be pushed with renewed ener-
ny on Nh enlarged scale in the spring. A
good deal OF money hiss been invested in
pipe lines within the State Tor the trans
po.ta,ion OF gas from the neighbot!IS
Pennsylvania field.
This new industry suggesta new lsg'sla.
ton for It's protection aud for the public
welfare. The pennsylvania Legislature,
a! its Inst session, recognized this new in.
dustrlal factor, and passsdan act Of twenty.
three e~ections relating TO 1t. Much Of the
Pennsylvania statute Is covered by our
corporation laws, but two sections would
apply aa we'll to West Virginia as to Penn.
%rylyauia.
SECTION IS II any rereon shall will
fully and maliciously break, iDjute aud
destroy any of the pipes, condui!s or other
works Of machinery Of any natural gas
company, or shall williully and malicious.
ly interfere With said pipes, conduits or
works 80 60 TO interrupt the business OF
any unch company, su:h person or per-
SONS shall be guilty oil 8 misdemeanor,
and, upon conviction, shalf be- sentenced
TO psy u fine not exceeding two hundred
dollars, or suffer an imprisonment not ex-
cet ding Il year, OR both or either In the
discretion Of the court.
SECTION 20. That whenever any well
shall have been put down on lands OF any
company authorized by this act for the
purpose OF exploring Tor, or producing
gas, upon abandoning or ceasing TO oper-
ate the same the company shall, before
drawing the casiur, ill up the well with
Sand or rock eediment to the depth Of a.
least twenty t20j iest above the gas bear
ing rock and drive a round seasoned
wooden plug at least two feet in length,
equal in diameter to tho diameter Of the
we'll below tho Gaming, to q point ut least
five feet below the bottom OF the casing,
and Immediately after the drawing OF the
Gazing shaii drive O round wooden plug
into the well at the point Just below whers
the lower end OF the casing shall have
rested, which plug ehall bs a. least three
feet in length, tapering in form, and to be
OF the same diameter at the distance OF
eighteen inches IRON the smaller end OF
the diameter below the point at which it
is TO be driven. After the plug has been
properly driven there shall be filled in on
the top Of the same sand or rock sediment
10 the depth OF at it asst five feet.
1t is Of the highest Necessity that the
natural gas supply once introduced shalt
be constant. To secure this end there
must..be q large outlay OF money to pro-
yido against possible contingencies, in
telligent supervision and untiring vigil
lance. Malicious mitcbief ought not
to be added TO the ordinary hazards
Of the business, and 30 much as the State
can do it ought to DO to protect natural
gas plants from wanton destruction. Such
acts are ever now unlawful, but q special
enactment on tho subject will be a special
reminder and can at least do no harm.
The plugging ..of abandoned wells is OF
abvious propriety and ought to BIO sigo.
rously insisted upon. In the same line
producers ought not to bs permitted to
waste gas by "blowirg of" for in
definite periods. The gas is theiro in the
sense that they have freed it from its
subtsrranean reservoir, but in the sense
that Providence has placed it there for q
beneicent purpore, it is not theirs to
waste. Though the gas is abundant now,
it may become ecarcs, and it is not good
public policy to permit it to 10 wasted.
l1t will be no hardship on any producer
to require him to ''lock in" any well for
which ho may not have present use. It
may be that the gas is forming as fast as
it can be used, and it may be that all are
drawing on the accumulation OF long
years or ages. These ques.ioIs not being
determined, it is the part Of prudence to
use with economy the now fuel that is
serving ia 30 we'll.